William ambrose duesbury



(No Model.) v

vW. A. DUESB'URY. LABEL. No. 496,554. Patented May Z, 1893.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVILLIAM AMBROSE DUESBURY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JAMES F. TEVLIN AND FRANK P. HUGHES, OF SAME PLACE.

LABEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 496,554, dated May 2, 1893.

Application filed April 19, 1892- Serial No. 429,793. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM AMEEosE DUESBU RY, of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in and Connected with Labels; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to Io make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of` my invention is to provide a I 5 simple, cheap and effective means of warnin g people when they are handling vessels, bottles,boxes or packages containing a substance poisonous or harmful in either internal or external use or both; or a liniment, pharmazo ceutical, or other preparation unt for internal use or intended, prescribed or iit for external use only, thereby preventing serious and oftentimes fatal accidents, as well as annoying mistakes.

z 5 To this end, my invent-ion consists of a label,

or adjunct to a label, of peculiar manufacture, hereinafter fully described and claimed, designed to be affixed by dealers in poisonous drugs and harmful matters upon the recipients thereof, and having a rough surface which will forcibly attract the attention of any person touching the same.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a face view of a label provided with my improve- 3 5 ment. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a bottle to which a similar label has been attached. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a package also bearing a label of the same description; and Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation showing a modilication of myinvention. Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of Fig. 4.

The same letters of reference are used to indicate corresponding parts in the four views.

A represents the label proper, which may be a slip of paper, a stri-p of cloth, or a piece of any suitable material bearing the usual inscriptions, such as the name and address of a manufacturer or druggist, the denomination of an article, printed directions, and words 5o like Poisom Beware, For external use only, &c., ordinarily employed to caution the public against the improper use of the things to which a label' of this class is fastened.

Upon the outer surface of the label A,I apply a coating, B, of pulverized glass, emery powder, saw-dust, or any such substance having sharp points and apt to cause apronounced and unusual sensation whencoming in contact with the hand. This coating is more or less evenly spread over the whole surface, ex- 6o cept in the spaces, b, reserved for Ithe titles, names, and descriptive matter, and even there it might, in some instances, be carried into the interstices between the letters, if desired. Any adhesive compound, Ysuch as cement, paste, or glue, may be used to put on the coating.

It matters not what shape the label is given, but whatever its form, it should be large 4 enough to surround say twothirds of abottle 7o or cover one-half the upper side of a package, so that part of its coating at least cannot fail to be felt when the bottle or package is grasped in the usual way.

The coating B need not be formed upon the 7 5- label itself, but may as well be applied to a separate. sheet of paper or other convenient material, A', which can be placed over the ordinary label like a guard or adjunct thereto, as illustrated at Fig. 4. In that case, the 8o coated sheets do not contain the printed matter, but are provided with openings, as at b, through which the names, titles, &c., on the common label can be seen. My improvement then is rather an addition to the label than an integral part thereof, although it accomplishes precisely the same results, whether applied in one form or in the other. Druggists and other parties having already a large stock of labels on hand or using a label of special 9o type will, however, be inclined to use separate coated sheets.

The results produced by my improved coating or covering for labels are obvious. It is manifest that a label provided with either is welladapted to arouse the attention of the most absent minded or careless persons, Whether the bottle or package bearing it be handled in the dark or in broad daylight. It will be the means of awakening them to their roo senses and by sounding a timely Warning, so to speak, will forestall the accomplishment of a rash act often followed by dire consequences.

The above-described improvement may be carried out in several Ways, substantially alike in nature, and I therefore do not wish to confine myself to any particular one among them. Thus, for instance, no foreign substance need be applied to the label proper, or to the adjunct to the label, but the rough coating may be artificially produced thereon, if suitable material be used. This, however, would constitute nothing more than a modified form of my invention. 

